Orange County – Fresh off its first-ever Super Bowl win, on February 15th the Philadelphia Eagles filed a U.S. Trademark Application for “Philly Special” for apparel. The phrase “Philly Special” was made famous by the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl in relation to a trick play. The phrase was called out by the team in the second quarter, on a fourth-and-goal when QB Nick Foles caught the ball in the end zone. Days after the Super Bowl win the Eagles were already using the phrase on shirts with the team’s logo.

One problem for the Eagles is that on February 9th, six days earlier than the Eagles, D.G. Yuengling & Son Inc. also filed a U.S. Trad Read the rest

Los Angeles – Popular makeup brand Hard Candy Cosmetics filed a trademark application for #MeToo in October 2017 which created great controversy. Hard Candy was looking to brand a line of fragrances and cosmetics with the hashtag #MeToo. #MeToo has been at the core of a social movement to help demonstrate the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment.

Social activist Tarana Burke is said to have created the phrase in 2007, and it was then popularized by actress Alyssa Milano in 2017 when she encouraged women to tweet #MeToo to demonstrate the scale of the social issue.

Hard Candy Cosmetics has a history of supporting non-profit organizations, a Read the rest

San Diego – Google recently won a lawsuit which challenged the validity of the Google trademark. Under U.S. trademark law, trademark rights are lost when a trademark becomes the generic name for the goods or services for which it is used. Several brand names have succumbed to this tragic occurrence known as genericide.

Formerly protectible trademarks that lost trademark rights are aspirin, escalator, thermos, and kleenex.

Los Angeles – In June 2017, a Mississippi business owner, Curtis Bordenave, filed a trademark application to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for use of a racial slur—the “N” word. The goal behind the trademark filing is not to be offensive, but to change people’s perception and the meaning of the word.

Having trademark applications such as this approved only recently became possible Read the rest

Orange County – In the latest Amazon empire expansion, on July 6, 2017 the company filed a trademark application for meal kits. The trademark application is for “We do the prep. You be the chef.” and is for a convenient service whereby frozen and prepared kits including meat, vegetables, pasta, etc. are delivered to your door. The trademark also covers a loyalty rewards program offering points and coupons for loyal customers. This potential service is great news, unless you are Blue A Read the rest

Orange County – The United States Supreme court has ruled in favor of an Asian American rock band who were refused by the trademark office when they applied to trademark their band name the Slants. In their decision, SCOTUS unanimously struck down part of a 71-year-old law that banned “disparaging” terms from being trademarked. According to the court ruling, the law that had banned offensive trademarks infringed on free speech rights, which are guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution.

Simon Tam, the founder of The Slants, said he was “beyond humbled and thrilled” with the decision. According to Tam, the band did not choose its name to be offens Read the rest

San Diego – On May 31st, 2017, at 12:06am, President Donald Trump tweeted, “Despite the constant negative press covfefe.” Very quickly thereafter, Covfefe went viral on social media. In the subsequent weeks, the word Covfefe has become a cultural phenomenon. It has been at the center of much debate and speculation, as people try to decide what happened during the President’s tweet.

Predictably, a large number of new trademark applications containing the word Covfefe were quickly filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). According to the USPTO Trademark Electronic Search System, more than 30 trademark applications have already been filed containing Read the rest

Los Angeles – On March 28th, 2017, Ivanka Trump’s company filed for at least 14 trademarks in China. It is the latest wave of trademark applications filed by the Trump family companies. Last year, Ms. Trump’s company filed 36 applications. These trademark applications raise ethical concerns over the Trump family’s business ties while holding public office.

Specifically, there is concern that the Trumps are susceptible to influence from foreign nations. According the Larry Noble, general counsel for the US watchdog group, Campaign Legal Center, China knows that denying these trademarks would draw a negative reaction from the President of the United States, a Read the rest

Orange County – Last week, China’s trademark review board awarded President Trump and his organization a trademark that Trump had been seeking for nearly a decade. Namely, the Trump organization has been awarded trademark protection for the use of the Trump name in the construction industry. China’s action, coupled with Trump’s decision to place his assets in a trust run by his adult sons, has sparked an ethical predicament that is drawing sharp debate.

The crux of the argument is whether President Trump is in violation of the foreign emoluments clause of the Constitution. Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 of the Constitutional Clause reads as follows: “… no P Read the rest

Orange County – Days before taking the oath of office, Donald Trump filed a trademark application for the “Keep America Great” slogan for his re-election campaign. The slogan is intended to build off the 2016 slogan: “Make America Great Again.” This phrase, and particularly the baseball caps printed with the phrase, were central to Trump’s election.

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